Who said anything about "median family income?" We're talking about accumulating vast sums of money ($40-130 million), which can be done only if a relatively large amount--although $1,000 isn't such a huge amount for many people, including many on this board--is methodically invested.

The calculation we seek can't be done on the "back of the envelope." The calculation is a fairly sophisticated Monte Carlo simulation. I'll see if I can find one that addresses the precise issue we're discussing:

"How much would (1) a $10,000 initial contribution, (2) plus contributions of $1,000 per month, (3) from January 1, 1965 to December 31, 2012, (4) have yielded by investing solely in the S&P 500?"

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